Behind the Scenes

This morning I read a press release from Arbitron and Edison Research that “a survey of digital platform usage finds that the percentage of Americans age 12 and older who have a profile on one or more social networking Web sites has reached 48% of Americans in 2010, double the level from two years ago.”

That information came on the heels of yesterday’s announcement that Facebook has added a “Like” button which enables a user to share a Web page with all the user’s friends. Peter Cashmore, CEO and founder of Mashable, a popular blog about social media, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, thinks, “It's a simple yet powerful feature, one that delivers a significant blow to rival Twitter. Once the network effects take hold, it's frankly hard to imagine how any company could unseat Facebook's social networking dominance in the months to come. Without a counterattack, even Google may one day be dethroned.”

Dethrone Google? What’s going on? Isn’t Google the number one search engine? It is today. However, with the Web only one thing is certain, and that is change. The Web is a bubbling cauldron of activity, much of it happening behind the scenes with developers and across the lines with users. It’s very difficult to know or keep track of what’s happening. It’s even harder to know what is coming. Unless you are in touch with people in the know or you read the right blogs, how can you possibly keep track? While my mind is boggled with the possibility of Google not being on top, that possibility is real.

I’m sure Google knows that.

Think back to AOL being all the rage, Yahoo! being the major search engine, or MySpace being the social networking site. Now AOL is seldom mentioned, Yahoo! is seldom searched, and MySpace is seldom used except by musicians who dominate 80% of it. All three have lost their top positions with the general public. None of them held those positions very long.

Although the names and what they offer may change, one thing is for certain. The Web has grown increasingly important in all of our lives. That Arbitron and Edison Research survey also found that “For the first time, more Americans say the Internet is ‘most essential’ to their lives when given a choice along with television, radio, and newspapers: 42% chose the Internet as most essential; 37% selected television; 14% chose radio; and 5% said newspapers.”

It’s not essential just to kids, either. “Consumer use of social networking sites is not just a youth phenomenon. Personal profile pages are maintained by: 78% of teens; 77% of 18 to 24s; 65% of 25 to 34s; and 51% 35 to 44s.” Reread those numbers. They are significant.

Social networking is growing across all age groups.

How does this affect your business? That depends on what you offer and how you decide to use social media. Only you can answer that question. Do not ignore the question, however. As the statistics show, the Web is gathering steam and changing the way people get their information and make their purchases.

Don’t let it leave your business behind.